Big Education Ape: Morning Wink 9-4-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Morning Wink 9-4-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTS

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 9-4-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: The Politico Top 50Thank you to Politico magazine for naming me one of the Top 50 political figures whose ideas are making a difference. The bio says “For standing up for teachers, not tests.” I am honored to be in such illustrious company!2 by dianeravitch / 10min hide // saveMarc Tucker Calls for a New Accountability SystemMarc

by mike simpson / 7:27 AM UTC-7

9-4-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Fight for 15.1 by Fred Klonsky / 5min hide // saveRobin Potter. Karen Lewis at the National Lawyers Guild.- Chicago activist and attorney Robin Potter sends this: The National Lawyers Guild is holding its national convention starting Thursday in Chicago. The NLG is a pivotal progressive organization

by mike simpson / 2min

9-4-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement": Interesting Idea: “Digital Parent Volunteers”Here’s an interesting idea from George Couros: You might also be interested in The Best Sources Of Parent Engagement Advice For Teachers.5 by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h hide // save“A Checklist for Back to School Night”A Checklist for Back to School Night is a useful post for every te

by mike simpson / 5min

9-4-14 Wait What? - For whom the bell tolls…

Wait What?: For whom the bell tolls…With Election Day less than nine weeks away, Connecticut teachers, parents and public school advocates continue to wait for an indication as to whether any of the candidates for governor will truly stand up against the tide of the corporate education reform industry, including their absurd, unfair and expensive Common Core testing scheme. Tens of […] The post Fo

by mike simpson / 7min

9-4-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet: No, helicopter parents aren’t ruining kids after allThere is no end to the articles and blog posts about overprotective helicopter parents who won’t let their children do anything for themselves and are raising children who can’t operate independently. There probably are some of these parents — but does the helicopter hysteria match the reality. No, says Alfie Kohn, in the following

by mike simpson / 8min

9-4-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Times Urges Mayor Murray to Take Control of the School BoardIn one of the most shameful and disrespectfully written editorials I've ever read in the Times, they urge the Mayor and the City Council to make taking over the majority of the Seattle School Board positions a top legislative priority.It's a funny thing because I JUST today wrote the Board about a couple o

by mike simpson / 11min

9-4-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: All The Interviews I’ve Done With Authors Over The Past 3 Years — In One Place!My latest Ed Week Teacher post brings together all the interviews I’ve done with authors over the past three years. Here’s an excerpt from one:3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 9-3-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & E

by mike simpson / 13min

9-4-14 Jersey Jazzman - A Reply To A Reply from @tomamoran

Jersey Jazzman: A Reply To A Reply from @tomamoranTom,Contrary to your beliefs, no one called you a racist. You know this: you put our other criticisms of you in quotes, but not the one where you allege we call you racist.What we said was that you support One Newark, a racist school reorganization policy. Which it is.You say:Maybe you folks should take a pill, and engage people who disagree with y

by mike simpson / 16min

9-4-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Grade Retention ResearchGrade Retention Research Alexander, K.L., Entwisle, D.R., & Dauber, S.L. (1994). On the success of failure: A reassessment of the effects of retention in the primary grades. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Allensworth, E. M. (2004).

by mike simpson / 23min

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 9-4-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: LA Times: the story retold — SUPT. DEASY’S EARLY AND AVID SUPPORT OF iPADS UNDER INTENSE SCRUTINYCritics question Deasy video – and much more – promoting iPads before bidding began By Howard Blume and James Rainey | http://lat.ms/1vS847t Supt. John Deasy appeared in a 2011 video for Apple promoting the iPad, saying it would "change the landscape o

by mike simpson / 24min

9-4-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks: Accountability - ChangeTheLAUSDhttp://www.changethelausd.com/accountability.html Accountability - ChangeTheLAUSD"It was controversial?"- John Deasy (1)At the beginning of this month, Superintendent Deasy was mocking opponents of his plan "to provide an iPad to every Los Angeles student, teacher and school administrator." (2) Yesterday he cancelled the proj

1 by mike simpson / 27min

9-4-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: APPR Teacher Evaluation System Mess ThreadJames Eterno at ICEUFT blog describes how you can get the same score in the APPR teacher evaluation system and either be "developing" or "ineffective," depending upon, well, nobody's sure what it depends upon:We knew teachers at a phasing out school would be at a huge disadvantage in terms of the ratings in Advanc

1 by mike simpson / 29min

Shanker Blog » Why Teachers And Researchers Should Work Together For Improvement

Shanker Blog » Why Teachers And Researchers Should Work Together For Improvement: Why Teachers And Researchers Should Work Together For ImprovementPosted by Bill Penuel on September 4, 2014Our guest author today is Bill Penuel, professor of educational psychology and learning sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. He leads the National Center for Research in Policy and Practice, which inv

by mike simpson / 32min

Common Core's Five Big Half-Truths :: Frederick M. Hess

Common Core's Five Big Half-Truths :: Frederick M. Hess: Common Core's Five Big Half-Truthsby Frederick M. Hess • Sep 4, 2014 at 8:37 amCross-posted from Education Week Print Send RSS ShareSchool is back in session, and debate over the Common Core is boiling in key states. As governors and legislators debate the fate of the Common Core, they hear Core advocates repeatedly stress five impressive

1 by mike simpson / 36min

9-4-14 empathyeducates - 6 Things White Parents Can Do to Raise Racially Conscious Children

empathyeducates – 6 Things White Parents Can Do to Raise Racially Conscious Children: 6 Things White Parents Can Do to Raise Racially Conscious ChildrenPhotograph; iStock Image | First Book.By Bree Ervin | Originally Published at Everyday Feminism and re-published at EmpathyEducates with their permission. August 30, 2014Talking about race is challenging for many parents, especially White parents.T

by mike simpson / 42min

Sacramento News & Review - Did Kevin Johnson work behind the scenes to fire Sacramento labor leader Bill Camp? - News - Local Stories - September 4, 2014

Sacramento News & Review - Did Kevin Johnson work behind the scenes to fire Sacramento labor leader Bill Camp? - News - Local Stories - September 4, 2014: Did Kevin Johnson work behind the scenes to fire Sacramento labor leader Bill Camp?A look at the fight for strong mayor and Measure L and the SEIUBy Cosmo Garvin cosmog@newsreview.comOne thing you’d expect the Sacramento Central Labor Counci

by mike simpson / 48min

CA goes it alone on special ed testing :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

CA goes it alone on special ed testing :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: SEPTEMBER 04, 2014CA goes it alone on special ed testingby Kimberly Beltran(Calif.) California is moving forward with a plan to develop and administer its own assessment for cognitively disabled students after learning barely a month ago that it would not be allowed to t

by mike simpson / 53min

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A color-coded visual of Chicago's reform failure

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A color-coded visual of Chicago's reform failure: A color-coded visual of Chicago's reform failureBlaine Principal Troy LaRaviereThanks to Blaine Principal Troy LaRaviere for sharing this excellent color-coded visual on Reading Growth in Chicago's Public & Charter Schools. @TroyLaraviere on Twitter calls it a "visual of Chicago's Charter Reform Failure."

by mike simpson / 1h

NYC Educator: In Which I Am Booted Out of a Very Low Venue

NYC Educator: In Which I Am Booted Out of a Very Low Venue: In Which I Am Booted Out of a Very Low VenueYesterday, I went to the trailer to prepare. I went up to the second floor and found all my Stuff, which I then had someone help me bring down to the trailer. Afterward, we placed it all in the abandoned file cabinet and ran back to the building. I went to my AP to file the outside evidence abou

by mike simpson / 1h

Op-Ed: In All-Charter School Districts, Ideology Trumps the Facts - NJ Spotlight

Op-Ed: In All-Charter School Districts, Ideology Trumps the Facts - NJ Spotlight: OP-ED: IN ALL-CHARTER SCHOOL DISTRICTS, IDEOLOGY TRUMPS THE FACTSPAUL TRACTENBERG | SEPTEMBER 4, 2014Mounting evidence indicates that charter schools can’t live up to their hypePaul TractenbergOne of the latest and most ardently pursued urban education reform is the all-charter school district. New Orleans, Detroit,

by mike simpson / 1h

YESTERDAY

On Honest and Civil Conversation (Simmer Down Now) | The Jose Vilson

On Honest and Civil Conversation (Simmer Down Now) | The Jose Vilson: On Honest and Civil Conversation (Simmer Down Now) SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 JOSE 1 COMMENTThe first audience reaction to my speech at the Network for Public Education came from a older, burly white man with big hands and a soft voice. Not that any of this scares me much since I’m from the hood, but context matters.“Jose, I’m glad you’r

1 by mike simpson / 11h

Pearson: Inside the Belly of a Very Troubled Beast | Alan Singer

Pearson: Inside the Belly of a Very Troubled Beast | Alan Singer: Pearson: Inside the Belly of a Very Troubled Beast"And the noise was in the beast's belly like unto the questing of thirty couple hounds." -Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, Book 1, chapter XIX, c. 14769Being trapped in the belly of the beast is scary. In the Old Testament, Jonah was trapped in the belly of a great f

1 by mike simpson / 11h

The Wal-Mart-ization of Education: Wal-Mart Wants Classrooms to Run More Like a Business, Teachers Are Fighting Back | Randi Weingarten

The Wal-Mart-ization of Education: Wal-Mart Wants Classrooms to Run More Like a Business, Teachers Are Fighting Back | Randi Weingarten: The Wal-Mart-ization of Education: Wal-Mart Wants Classrooms to Run More Like a Business, Teachers Are Fighting BackAs part of Wal-Mart's back-to-school marketing efforts, the company recently launched a series of teacher appreciation videos, ads, hashtags and di

1 by mike simpson / 11h

Reflections of a BadAss Teacher – Year Two - Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association: Reflections of a BadAss Teacher – Year TwoGetting ready for work this morning, I experienced something I had never felt before.I was not ready to go back to work. I am sure that my working at the school for four weeks during the summer had something to do with it. But it was more than that. Trying to pinpoint exactly what it was at first was hard. Last year I had f

1 by mike simpson / 11h

Nite Cap 9-3-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT

James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 9-3-144LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: DEASY: “Dear LAUSD Family, I would like to speak to you personally…” but instead here are two links to the same memo I sent to the Board of Ed yesterda

3 by mike simpson / 12h

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 9-3-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: DEASY: “Dear LAUSD Family, I would like to speak to you personally…” but instead here are two links to the same memo I sent to the Board of Ed yesterdayan email blast sent to all LAUSD employees From: Superintendent John Deasy [superintendent_john@LAUSD.NET]Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2014 2:39 PMTo: LAUSD_EMPLOYEES@LIST.LAUSD.NETSubject: Ed-Blast: C

by mike simpson / 12h

9-3-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Education Post: A Sorry Attempt to Repackage Privatization as “Conversation”There is a test-score-driven, privatizing war on public schools and on the teaching profession. It is no secret that those chiefly financing the war stand above the chaos they create via their “philanthropy.” In short, they use their billions in order to promote their own ideal of American education priva

by mike simpson / 12h

It Isn’t Over in Lee County or Elsewhere! And About Common Core…

It Isn’t Over in Lee County or Elsewhere! And About Common Core…: It Isn’t Over in Lee County or Elsewhere! And About Common Core…SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 BY NANCY BAILEY LEAVE A COMMENTThe Lee County School Board has backed out and students will get tests and tests and more tests. But I know parents will not give up. I’m hoping they will hold their Superintendent accountable for stating that she wanted

by mike simpson / 12h

9-3-14 Wait What? - Foley and Malloy are just plain wrong on taxes

Wait What?: Foley and Malloy are just plain wrong on taxes[A special note of thanks to all of you who have posted comments and sent emails of support urging me to continue writing posts Wait, What? While I will continue to mull over the various issues and opportunities, the following is an attempt to gingerly re-enter the fray by using this blog to raise what […] The post Foley and Malloy are jus

by mike simpson / 12h

Ms. Katie's Ramblings: Why Teach For America’s Push for “Diversity” Should Not Be Celebrated

Ms. Katie's Ramblings: Why Teach For America’s Push for “Diversity” Should Not Be Celebrated: Why Teach For America’s Push for “Diversity” Should Not Be CelebratedYesterday, I was disappointed to see Teaching Tolerance-a social justice education resource which I have personally used many times-publish a blog post entitled Teach For (a Diverse) America. It was difficult to see a TFA alum spout thi

by mike simpson / 12h

Ms. Katie's Ramblings: Why Teach For America’s Push for “Diversity” Should Not Be Celebrated

by mike simpson / 12h

9-3-14 Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Welcome back to your school, now under AUSL

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Col. Tyrell as GreshamWelcome back to your school, now under AUSL management.Col. Tyrell as GreshamDAY ONE -- LEVEL ZERO Ex-Marine Col. Tom Tyrell was there to oversee the first day of school at Gresham. Before Coming to CPS to supervise school closings, Tyrell coordinated "prisoner-exchange" work in Kosovo. He then went on to work as Chief Operating Office

by mike simpson / 12h

9-3-14 Jersey Jazzman - Is "One Newark" Racist?

Jersey Jazzman: Is "One Newark" Racist?Is One Newark, the school reorganization plan for New Jersey largest city, racist? Well...- Under One Newark, "Schools assigned the consequential classifications have substantively and statistically significantly greater shares of low income and black students." That's racist.- Under One Newark, "NPS’s black teachers are far more like

by mike simpson / 12h

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 9-3-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: FairTest: Resistance to Over-Testing Grows NationwideHere is FairTest’s weekly roundup of resistance to test mania: This week’s biggest assessment reform news was the vote to “opt out” of state-mandated standardized exams by the Lee County, Florida School Board. Though that was the most dramatic action so far this school year, we a

by mike simpson / 12h

Education Post: A Sorry Attempt to Repackage Privatization as “Conversation” | deutsch29

Education Post: A Sorry Attempt to Repackage Privatization as “Conversation” | deutsch29: Education Post: A Sorry Attempt to Repackage Privatization as “Conversation”September 3, 2014There is a test-score-driven, privatizing war on public schools and on the teaching profession.It is no secret that those chiefly financing the war stand above the chaos they create via their “philanthropy.” In short,

by mike simpson / 12h

Louisiana Educator: New Revelations About LEAP and NAEP

Louisiana Educator: New Revelations About LEAP and NAEP: New Revelations About LEAP and NAEPThe LA State Dept. of Education yesterday attempted to explain the setting of cut scores on LEAP. There is a section of theSeptember 2 LDOE newsletter addressing the testing issue. Readers may remember that this blog demonstrated that the percentage of correct answers needed for a rating of basic in 2014 dr

1 by mike simpson / 12h

9-3-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Video: Iceland VolcanoI’m adding this video to The Best Sites For Learning About Volcanoes:7 by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h hide // saveAll My Ed Week Posts On “Relationships” From The Past 3 Years — In One Place!My latest Ed Week Teacher column brings together all my posts there from the past three years on the topic of “relati

1 by mike simpson / 12h

The Book That Got Teaching Right (Samuel Freedman) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Book That Got Teaching Right (Samuel Freedman) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: The Book That Got Teaching Right (Samuel Freedman)Samuel G. Freedman has authored seven books one of which is Small Victories: The Real World of a Teacher, Her Students, and Their High School. He is a frequent contributor to the New Yorker. This piece was published September 1, 2014.In the co

1 by mike simpson / 12h

9-3-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Deasy on his critics: Constant attacks are ‘politically motived’Deasy on his critics: Constant attacks are ‘politically motived’ Superintendent John Deasy Under withering criticism over the iPad program, a new student-tracking computer system and discordant relations with the teachers union, LA Unified Su

1 by mike simpson / 12h

State awards Common Core test contract | EdSource

State awards Common Core test contract | EdSource: State awards Common Core test contractSeptember 3, 2014 | By John Fensterwald | No Comments SHARE THIS ARTICLEWith the State Board of Education’s approval, California became the ninth state Wednesday to award a contract to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium for the standardized tests in the Common Core State Standards that students will t

6 by mike simpson / 12h

9-3-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet: A pledge school reformers should takeEducation historian Larry Cuban notes that no matter what part of the political spectrum school reform originates, reformers keep making the same mistakes, decade in and decade out. What mistakes? Cuban explains in this post. Cuban was a high school social studies teacher for 14 years, a district superintendent (seven years in Arlington, VA), and

by mike simpson / 12h

Something’s Coming (Something Good) | Taking Note

Something’s Coming (Something Good) | Taking Note: Something’s Coming (Something Good)by AMANDA on 03. SEP, 2014 in 2014 BLOGS, ARNE DUNCAN, TEACHING“Something there is that doesn’t love more bubble testsAnd students bubbling and learning how to bubbleWhen they might be making robots or reading Frost….”When I adapted Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” earlier this year, I was aware of the growing resen

by mike simpson / 13h

9-3-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Title IX UpdateAs you may know, Seattle Public Schools wasn't quite up to snuff on Title IX compliance. The person responsible for Title IX compliance didn't know his responsibilities and, consequently, failed to perform his required duties. When this dreadful situation came to light (with tragic consequences), the District... well, the District didn't do anything

by mike simpson / 13h

9-3-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Kevin Carey, Logically AdriftKevin Carey and the billionaire patrons of CorpEd who pay him to record his thought disorders in the New York Times are moving on from K-12 to more fertile education grounds to make money and to impose their idiocy. Watch out, higher ed. With more and more young adults graduating from college with fewer good jobs available to them and the next generati

by mike simpson / 13h

9-3-14 With A Brooklyn Accent:Where Are You From? A Guest Post by Malaya Velasquez Saldana

With A Brooklyn Accent: Where Are You From? A Guest Post by Malaya Velasquez Saldana“Whereare you from?” the ubiquitous question posed to me since I learned to formulate my first English sentence, has overtime accrued the weight of a multitude of implied questions, and exclamations. Now by 22 years old the weight of that question is so heavy with implications, and assumptive self-erasing experienc

by mike simpson / 13h

9-3-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: The Napa Wine Club is worth two years of my pension. Rauner and Quinn think I get too much.11 by Fred Klonsky / 3h Retired teachers are not just about pensions. We had a lively charter discussion.This blogger, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and S.O.R.E. organizer, Harriet Sheeley. We often discuss polit

1 by mike simpson / 13h

9-3-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Samuel Freedman, on Bel Kaufman, Goes After Teacher Bashing, With Ties to the 68 StrikeAround the same time that “Up the Down Staircase” was published, New York City was convulsed by a battle over community control of public schools. The struggle reached its apogee between 1967 and 1968, with the installation of a black governing board in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville section of Broo

1 by mike simpson / 13h

9-3-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): The Conversation UK: Keeping children back a year doesn’t help them read betterKeeping children back a year doesn’t help them read better2 by plthomasedd / 14h 9-2-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindnessthe becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy o

1 by mike simpson / 13h

9-3-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks: NPR Whitewashes Charter Schools and Disaster Capitalism in New Orleans | the becoming radicalNPR WHITEWASHES CHARTER SCHOOLS AND DISASTER CAPITALISM IN NEW ORLEANS It was bad enough when NPR whitewashed the "grit" narrative, but now NPR is whitewashing charter schools and disaster capitalism in New Orleans. Framed as "remarkable changes," erasing public sc

1 by mike simpson / 13h

9-3-14empathyeducates - Keeping Children Back a Year Doesn’t Help Them Read Better

empathyeducates: Keeping Children Back a Year Doesn’t Help Them Read BetterVery high stakes. Holtsman, CC BY-NC By Paul Thomas, Ed.D., Furman University | Originally Published at the The Conversation. September 3, 2014 If you’re an eight-year-old living in Charleston, South Carolina, you’re soon going to need to study extra hard at reading. The US state has joined […]20 by empathy / 2h hide // s

1 by mike simpson / 13h

9-3-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: Can We Renew "The Conversation"? There has been a renewal of calls lately to refresh, renew, restart, and otherwise rehabilitate the conversation about Common Core.It has taken a variety of forms. In the Washington Times, Mike Petrilli and Neal McClusky put out a call to retire some of the standard talking points, admitting that the Core is after all kind of curriculummy

by mike simpson / 13h

9-3-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Cuomo: Debates Are Bad For DemocracyYou just can't make this stuff up:Mr. Cuomo’s primary challengers include Zephyr Teachout, a law professor, whose candidacy has attracted attention of late partly because of the governor’s simultaneous concern about it (he tried to get her removed from the ballot) and refusal to acknowledge it exists (he avoids uttering Ms. Teachout’s name

by mike simpson / 13h

SKrashen: My response to Bill Nye (The Science Guy"): Standards OK but not the Common Core Standards

SKrashen: My response to Bill Nye (The Science Guy"): Standards OK but not the Common Core Standards: My response to Bill Nye (The Science Guy"): Standards OK but not the Common Core StandardsResponse to Bill Nye (“Science Guy”), Posted Sept 2 at: Could Common Core be the antidote for Creationist teachers?Bill Nye: If I were king of the forest we would have math in the core curriculum. S

by mike simpson / 13h

Russ on Reading: Keeping Your Balance in Literacy Instruction

Russ on Reading: Keeping Your Balance in Literacy Instruction: Keeping Your Balance in Literacy InstructionBy now veteran teachers are accustomed to the pendulum swing in literacy instruction that veers wildly from one new best practice to another, often recycling through a back to basics heavy emphasis on phonics and then swinging back to a more holistic comprehension strategies approach. With th

by mike simpson / 13h

On My Son’s First Day of Kindergarten: OurSchoolsAreNotFailing.org organizes communities to defend their schools from NCLB | I AM AN EDUCATOR

On My Son’s First Day of Kindergarten: OurSchoolsAreNotFailing.org organizes communities to defend their schools from NCLB | I AM AN EDUCATOR: On My Son’s First Day of Kindergarten: OurSchoolsAreNotFailing.org organizes communities to defend their schools from NCLBBy I AM AN EDUCATOR on September 3, 2014Today is the first day of school in Seattle. I have never been more excited and nervous for the

by mike simpson / 13h

How Did Writing My Book Change My Own Opinions? | Dana Goldstein

How Did Writing My Book Change My Own Opinions? | Dana Goldstein: How Did Writing My Book Change My Own Opinions?Thanks to Nona Willis Aronowitz for a perceptive interview at NBC.com about The Teacher Wars:Did any of your opinions change over the course of your research?I started the project with the assumption that teachers are somewhat unfairly maligned and attacked in our public discourse. And

by mike simpson / 13h

PowerPoint Doesn’t Suck; 10 Ideas To Make it Great | Connected Principals

PowerPoint Doesn’t Suck; 10 Ideas To Make it Great | Connected Principals: PowerPoint Doesn’t Suck; 10 Ideas To Make it Greatby George Couros • September 3, 2014 • 0 CommentsI have often heard of people saying, “we shouldn’t just keep teaching our kids PowerPoint anymore”‘ as if it is some terrible technology. Presentation software (PowerPoint, HaikuDeck, Keynote, Prezi, etc.) is actually pretty

by mike simpson / 13h hide // save

LA schools iPads: Superintendent Deasy explains Pearson, Apple meetings | 89.3 KPCC

LA schools iPads: Superintendent Deasy explains Pearson, Apple meetings | 89.3 KPCC: LA schools iPads: Superintendent Deasy explains Pearson, Apple meetings More than a week after new questions arose regarding the bidding process for the 1:1 technology program, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy sent a six-page memo to the school board Tuesday defending his actions and stating that neit

by mike simpson / 13h

Big Education Ape Has Jury Duty

Big Education Ape Has Jury DutyIn the PM

2 by mike simpson / 1d